Catholic Bishop Stabbed to Death in Southern Turkey

Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, June 3, 2010, 5:47 AM

A Catholic bishop has been stabbed to death in southern Turkey, the Vatican Embassy in Ankara confirmed on Thursday.

The victim was identified by the Vatican as Luigi Padovese, the apostolic vicar of Anatolia. He was assaulted on Thursday in his house in Iskenderun, located in Hatay province, the Vatican said.

Church officials expressed “shock and sorrow” over the death of Padovese, also the president of the Turkey Bishops Conference

“I can only express an immense pain over this violent act that has taken us by surprise,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.

“The tragedy of this event shows the difficulty that the Christian community endures in the Middle East region.”

Roman Catholics in Turkey “occasionally have been subjected to violent societal attacks,” according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a U.S. government agency.

The group’s latest report cites the February 2006 shooting death of “an Italian Catholic priest” in Trabzon by a boy “angered over the caricatures of the Muslim prophet in Danish newspapers.”

Archbishop Luigi Padovese, the president of the Bishops’ Conference of Turkey, invited Christians to make a pilgrimage to Tarsus, the birthplace of St. Paul, as part of their celebrations for the Pauline year in 2008.

Friendly fire on Gail F. won’t enhance a cooperative atmosphere, and it might have a chilling effect on others who might have something to contribute but don’t have a link to the source and five eyewitnesses to validate it. We’re all angry and frustrated at the double standard applied to Muslims, but we shouldn’t take it out on each other. Save it for the Trolls.

TrickyDick commented:

Marsh commented:

The idea everyone keeps pushing that turkey is so moderate, tolerant, progressive and friendly is a complete joke. That country is overflowing with islamists. And never forget that turkey is occupied Christian European land who also occupies Cyprus as well. They should be kicked out of NATO and permanently denied EU membership immediately.

bg commented:

[Citing the bishop’s longtime assistant, Sister Leonora, who said Murat had been showing signs of depression and confusion for several days, Vatican Radio said the murder did not appear to have a political or religious motive.]

thanks..

however, i still have the feeling this isn’t all there was to it, that’s not to say it was any of the “conclusions i may have jumped” too.. oh well, only time will tell..

bg commented:

++

Opaobie @ 11:42 am #41

what are you preaching about??

what “friendly fire”??

you mean the kind you just shot off??

i know i did not “fire” at Gail..

man, sometimes i’d like to tell you off, but i bite my tongue due to possible misinterpretation, and always give the benefit of the doubt to the poster, unless what they post is obviously meant to cause discourse for whatever reason, ie: a troll trolling for attention.. besides, i get more than enough “lecturing” from Obama..

Claudia commented:

Sojourner commented:

..’In 2006, amid widespread anger in Islamic countries over the publication in European newspapers of caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, a 16-year-old boy shot dead a Catholic priest, Father Andrea Santoro, as he prayed in his church in the Black Sea city of Trabzon.
A witness heard the alleged murderer shout “Allah Akbar:”http://michellemalkin.com/2006/02/07/the-murder-of-father-santoro/